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Chief Keef Reveals He Turned Down Being First Artist With Apple Music Deal

Trace William Cowen is a writer based in Los Angeles. He tweets with dramatic irregularity here.

May 18, 2017

Image via @ChiefKeef

Chief Keef has revealed he could have been the first artist to land a deal with Apple Music. In a new interview with XXL, Keef recalled a discussion he had with Larry Jackson, formerly the executive VP of A&R at Interscope Records and now Apple Music's head of content.

"This was before I ended up with [FilmOn's Alki David], messing with [former manager Rovan 'Dro' Manuel]," Keef told XXL Wednesday. "They were talking about taking me to Apple. This was before they did anybody with Apple Music. You know what Larry called me and said? He said, 'You're gonna be the first artist on Apple Music,' and I turned it down."

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Jackson also recalled the conversation, tellingXXL that he's learned to expect the unexpected from Keef.

Keef, Jackson said, "has always been enigmatic, and I didn't even expect him to leap at it." Jackson, whose first introduction to Keef's music was the original "I Don't Like," compared the experience to Nirvana's explosive rise after the release of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

In January, Keef released his 17-track Two Zero One Seven mixtape featuring appearances by Tadoe and Kash, as well as production from Lex Luger. The Thot Breakers mixtape, announced shortly after the release of Two Zero One Seven, is due June 9. In the XXL interview, a FilmOn rep claimed that Keef and David had patched up their relationship. David, the rep claimed, is producing Keef's The Cozart "as they always planned." Keef's reps apparently offered a slightly different update on the relationship.